This Court Decision in the Gavin Grimm Case Will Bring Tears to Your Eyes

On April 7th, the Fourth Circuit overturned Gavin Grimm's win from last year, based on the Supreme Court's decision last month not to hear the case. Gavin had won the right to use the boys' restroom on the same terms as other boys but the school district appealed his win. The Fourth Circuit will now hear oral argument later this year to determine whether Title IX protects transgender students independently of any federal guidance on the issue one way or the other. Two of the three judges that considered Gavin's case, Senior Judge Andre Davis joined by Judge Henry Floyd, issued this moving opinion noting that Gavin's "journey is delayed but not finished" and recognizing Gavin's important role in the history of movements for justice.

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I concur in the order granting the unopposed motion to vacate the district court’s preliminary injunction and add these observations.

G.G., then a fifteen-year-old transgender boy, addressed the Gloucester County School Board on November 11, 2014, to explain why he was not a danger to other students. He explained that he had used the boys’ bathroom in public places throughout Gloucester County and had never had a confrontation. He explained that he is a person worthy of dignity and privacy. He explained why it is humiliating to be segregated from the general population. He knew, intuitively, what the law has in recent decades acknowledged: the perpetuation of stereotypes is one of many forms of invidious discrimination. And so he hoped that his heartfelt explanation would help the powerful adults in his community come to understand what his adolescent peers already did. G.G. clearly and eloquently attested that he was not a predator, but a boy, despite the fact that he did not conform to some people’s idea about who is a boy.

Regrettably, a majority of the School Board was unpersuaded. And so we come to this moment. High school graduation looms and, by this court’s order vacating the preliminary injunction, G.G.’s banishment from the boys’ restroom becomes an enduring feature of his high school experience. Would that courtesies extended to others had been extended to G.G.

Our country has a long and ignominious history of discriminating against our most vulnerable and powerless. We have an equally long history, however, of brave individuals—Dred Scott, Fred Korematsu, Linda Brown, Mildred and Richard Loving, Edie Windsor, and Jim Obergefell, to name just a few—who refused to accept quietly the injustices that were perpetuated against them. It is unsurprising, of course, that the burden of confronting and remedying injustice falls on the shoulders of the oppressed. These individuals looked to the federal courts to vindicate their claims to human dignity, but as the names listed above make clear, the judiciary’s response has been decidedly mixed. Today, G.G. adds his name to the list of plaintiffs whose struggle for justice has been delayed and rebuffed; as Dr. King reminded us, however, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” G.G.’s journey is delayed but not finished.

G.G.’s case is about much more than bathrooms. It’s about a boy asking his school to treat him just like any other boy. It’s about protecting the rights of transgender people in public spaces and not forcing them to exist on the margins. It’s about governmental validation of the existence and experiences of transgender people, as well as the simple recognition of their humanity. His case is part of a larger movement that is redefining and broadening the scope of civil and human rights so that they extend to a vulnerable group that has traditionally been unrecognized, unrepresented, and unprotected.

G.G.’s plight has shown us the inequities that arise when the government organizes society by outdated constructs like biological sex and gender. Fortunately, the law eventually catches up to the lived facts of people; indeed, the record shows that the 4 Commonwealth of Virginia has now recorded a birth certificate for G.G. that designates his sex as male.

G.G.’s lawsuit also has demonstrated that some entities will not protect the rights of others unless compelled to do so. Today, hatred, intolerance, and discrimination persist — and are sometimes even promoted — but by challenging unjust policies rooted in invidious discrimination, G.G. takes his place among other modern-day human rights leaders who strive to ensure that, one day, equality will prevail, and that the core dignity of every one of our brothers and sisters is respected by lawmakers and others who wield power over their lives.

G.G. is and will be famous, and justifiably so. But he is not “famous” in the hollowed-out Hollywood sense of the term. He is famous for the reasons celebrated by the renowned Palestinian-American poet Naomi Shehab Nye, in her extraordinary poem, Famous. Despite his youth and the formidable power of those arrayed against him at every stage of these proceedings, “[he] never forgot what [he] could do.” Judge Floyd has authorized me to state that he joins in the views expressed herein.

See N. S. Nye, Famous:

The river is famous to the fish.

The loud voice is famous to silence,which knew it would inherit the earthbefore anybody said so.

The cat sleeping on the fence is famous to the birdswatching him from the birdhouse.

The tear is famous, briefly, to the cheek.

The idea you carry close to your bosomis famous to your bosom.

The boot is famous to the earth,more famous than the dress shoe,which is famous only to floors.

The bent photograph is famous to the one who carries itand not at all famous to the one who is pictured.

I want to be famous to shuffling menwho smile while crossing streets,sticky children in grocery lines,famous as the one who smiled back.

I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous,or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular,but because it never forgot what it could do.

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Anonymous

About me-I'm not religious, though I did go to Christian schools when as a boy (1970s)as we had immigrated to in 1972 & my parents believed Christian schools would give better education. Turns out 1 of the priests @ our school was a gay pedofile. I am not religious because among other things, if there's a God, then why do bad things happen in world ? All transexuals are homosexual/lesbian as the act of mutilating to become false opposite sex is itself an act of homosexuality/lesbianism-sad maiming and make this illegal.

Psychologists can be dishonest & deny what they know is true as we see with psychologists dishonesty on childhood sex abuse & homosexuality. If a child is repeatedly sexually abused, then it's more likely he will do gay activity in adulthood vs. if he wasn't. Since homosexuals and lesbians (transexuals) often suffered childhood sex abuse, no surprise that homosexuals and lesbians think childhood sexual abuse is OK when homosexual activities.

Never have I heard straights blame childhood sex abuse for reasons a man has sex with a woman and fathers children with her. Yet sometimes have heard gays and lesbians say childhood sex abuse is reason they do same sex behaviors. Sex abuse in youth can cause people to behave in ways. It not controversial to talk of nightmares, suicides, bed wetting often a result of sex abuse in youth. Yet when 1 talks gay/lesbian behaviors in adulthood because they learned this sexual behavior by being repeatedly molested, then gays with politically safe psychologists complain. The politically correct psychologists who deny this know possible for a boy to turn out gay as a result of childhood sex abuse, yet deny what they know is true. Of course, not all who are sexually abused in youth become gay in adulthood-but the risk is higher. Anybody who denies the link is dishonest, delusional or both.

A kid can become a mugger by living in high crime neighborhood, seeing muggings in childhood and learning this conduct. Yes, there are muggers who were not raised in high crime neighborhoods but still became muggers, but that does not rule out other causes. Many emphysema victims did not smoke and were not exposed to 2nd hand smoke and got emphysema due to bad genes but it would be dishonest to deny truth that if a person smokes, he or she is more likely to get emphysema.

Anonymous

People distrust mainstream psychologists or mental health ‘professionals’ on homosexuality because-http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200909/why-shrinks-have-problems Psychologists and psychiatrists often have disorders of their own because they deal with people’s problems such as paranonia, schizophrenia and the stress of that job can mess up mind. Psychologists and psychiatrists deal with other people’s problems and that can stress the mind. The fact that psychologists and psychiatrists often have problems of their own makes their findings useless because if they can not solve their own problems, then when they research this, they are often wrong. Mainstream psychology/medicine is not to be trusted on gay/lesbian topic and too many people accept what is said w/o challenging or having doubts-experts can say things to support any agenda.

http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2010/12/medicine-big-business.html Medicine is about money like other things. Incidentally, I have found that Drs. are not always the healthiest people. Seen Drs. who are overweight, drink excess alcohol and don't take good care of themselves. Have also found that Drs. are often high strung people-of course people who are educated such as Drs., engineers, physicists, etc. tend to be high strung in expectations.

Too often people accept what a Dr. says without challenging. They admit that 20% of hysterectomies are not needed but it wouldn't be surprising if the # of hysterectomies which are not needed is higher such as 25%, 30% or 35%, while only admitting that 20% are not needed. For same reason, most breast surgeries are not needed but are done because the women are not happy with their boob size.

No surprise that APA and AMA are against doing studies on mental problems which psychologists & psychiatrists have and the medical problems Drs. are more likely to have. Being a psychologist, psychiatrist or Dr. doesn't mean 1 knows all answers and psychologists, psychiatrists and Drs. can be dishonest, haughty and arrogant. It's human nature to not like your conclusions challenged. Journalists don't like their conclusions challenged and Drs. psychologists and psychiatrists are the same way.

I don’t deny possibility homosexuality could be genetic or inborn for some but that is unproven. Even if it’s true that homosexuality is inborn for some people, homosexual/lesbian conduct would still be bad for health.

Never have I heard straights blame childhood sex abuse for reasons a man has sex with a woman and fathers children with her. Yet sometimes have heard gays and lesbians say childhood sex abuse is reason they do same sex behaviors. Sex abuse in youth can cause people to behave in ways. It’s not controversial to talk of nightmares, suicides, bed wetting often a result of sex abuse in youth.

Yet when 1 talks gay/lesbian behaviors in adulthood because they learned this sexual behavior by being repeatedly molested, then gays with politically safe psychologists complain. The politically correct psychologists who deny this know it’s possible for a boy to turn out gay as a result of childhood sex abuse, yet deny what they know is true. Of course, not all who are sexually abused in youth become gay in adulthood-but the risk is higher. Any conduct can be learned and this includes sexual conduct.

Many gays and lesbians who commit suicide do so because they often were childhood sex abuse victims and many have other copathologies such as antisocial conduct, drugs, etc. No, not all boys who are homosexually raped in youth become homosexual in adulthood & yes, there are many gays who weren’t homosexually raped in their youths. But homosexual rapes in youth incr. risk of a boy turning out homosexual. A kid can become a mugger by living in high crime neighborhood, seeing muggings in childhood and learning this conduct. Yes, there are muggers who were not raised in high crime neighborhoods but still became muggers, but that does not rule out other causes. Many emphysema victims did not smoke and were not exposed to 2nd hand smoke and got emphysema due to bad genes but it would be dishonest to deny truth that if a person smokes, he or she is more likely to get emphysema.

Homosexual/lesbian conduct is bad for health as smoking is and needs to be marginalized like smoking is. People who engage in homosexual/lesbian conduct have more medical problems caused by homosexual/lesbian conduct. I believe the negative views of homosexual/lesbian conduct is the right view because there is something wrong with homosexual/lesbian conduct and again, they must make it a crime to do sex changes. I know my view offends homosexuals, but most smokers do not get offended by negative views of tobacco use. So homosexuals/lesbians have to hear others give negative views of their sex lives, because there is something wrong with this just as there’s something wrong with smoking.

Again with repair therapy for homosexuality, that should be there for homosexuals/lesbians who want to change to straight. Whether it works or not, that has to be something they find for themselves. Yes, it should also be the right of homosexuals and lesbians not to go into repair therapy just as I support right of any lucid person to refuse medical care such as if a lucid person’s a heart attack victim and does not want open heart surgery, then it should be their right to refuse this. Yes, proof burden is on repair therapists, but if you aren’t going to have repair therapy for homsexuality/lesbianism, then you may as well not have repair therapy for drug junkyism or drunkardism, because such therapy often fails and high relapses. The same things that you say about repair therapy for treating homosexuality can also be said for many other problems people have.

Anonymous

Comment sometimes people make is that if a man makes ‘unwanted ….’ to a woman, should she have a right to attack or kill a man& or that women don’t have a right to make this defense. When this comment is made I wonder if the person believe this or do they say this knowing it’s false hoping that if it’s repeated many times unchallenged that it’s believed? There are many cases where women have attacked or killed men & in their trials used the defense that the man was abusing the woman, when in a few cases it was the opposite.

Jodi Ann Arias stalked her boyfriend and 1 day she murdered him by stabbing him to death and cutting his throat. During the murder trial, Jodi Ann Arias said that her boyfriend abused her when she abused her boyfriend. Travis Victor Alexander did nothing wrong other than be involved with Jodi Ann Arias a woman with Borderline Personality Disorder and in the end that got him murdered & during the murder trial, he is accused of abusing her when it’s other way round. & long before Jodi Ann Arias met Travis V. Alexander, she had a violent history going back years such as Jodi Ann Arias kicking a dog when she was a teenager.

& there were defense witnesses such as Alyce L. LaViolette, L.C. Miccio-Fonseca, Richard M. Samuels and Robert A. Geffner who said what they knew is false for money. They didn’t care what the facts were, they just saw a chance to make $ by testifying by making the victim look like the abuser when it’s other way round. Alyce Louise LaViolette did not care that Jodi Ann Arias was stalking Travis V. Alexander, among other things. Travis Victor Alexander reported Jodi Ann Arias stalking him and slashing his tires.

Another thing to say with gay bashings is that when there’s a case of let’s say a 16 year old boy who bashes or kills a 34 year old gay man, must wonder if the 34 year old gay man was a victim of unprovoked attack or was the 34 year old gay man committing a crime such as harassing the 16 year old boy before the boy reacted violently? Does the gay man who was bashed or killed have a history of stalking, harassing or molesting teenage boys ? Most boys who are victims of gay pedophiles are shy to talk about this. Again if it’s true homosexual committed indecent exposure, harassment, stalking, etc. before men reacted violently, then the fact the homosexual committed a crime before he was bashed must be decided by jury in deciding if gay basher(s) used reasonable or excess force.

Anonymous

When I read a gay (transexuals are mutilated gays/lesbians and they must abolish sex changes) bashing case in the news, I wonder what the view is of the journalist reporting this on homosexuality/lesbianism ? I also wonder if the journalist is a homosexual or lesbian and if so, are they setting aside their bias and reporting the news with no problems ? I do not trust news that I get from Daily Kos or the Huffington Post on their coverage of gay bashing cases because they predictably make the homosexual look like an innocent victim no matter what wrong the gay does.

For posters who say that if a homosexual (some cases lesbian) commits crimes such as stalking, indecent exposure, assault & battery (touching a person’s genitals against will is assault & battery or forceplay), etc. that the man should allow the abuse are apologists for molestation because that is what a would be molester wants the victim to do before doing a more violent attack. First again-stalking, harassment, indecent exposure, assault & battery (forceplay), etc. are crimes just by themselves. But they can easily worsen to something more violent. Though you know this, here are some things as these cases are unpredictable.

-If a gay grabs a man’s butt, groin, etc. against will, the homosexual is committing assault & battery or forceplay even if people use mild words such as unwanted….. If a homosexual man is trying to commit a more serious crime such as pedophilia, the first things a gay does is that assault & battery or forceplay. It’s same way that if a man is going to rape a woman, the 1st things he does are grab a woman’s boobs, butt, etc. against will or forceplay. If a homosexual wants to commit molestation-Stalking, indecent exposure, assault & battery or forceplay, etc. are often the first crimes a homosexual does before he molests.

-If the gay (some cases lesbian) is high on drugs such as cocaine & or meth while committing indecent exposure, stalking, etc., then the homosexual can commit a more violent crime incl. murder in a drug rage after committing indecent exposure. Stalking, indecent exposure, etc. may not be the only crime which the homosexual intends esp. if he is high on drugs. Think you know that when gays & lesbians commit sex abuse, the first thing they do is commit indecent exposure, grab a person’s genitals against will before doing something more violent.

Proposing (straight or gay) in your house, singles bar or @ a private party is in most cases legal. The right thing to do is say no and leave. If a man is a guest in a gay man’s house and the gay man proposes, the right thing to do is say no and leave because it is the gay man’s house and the gay man did not commit a crime when he did the proposal so the right thing to do is leave the house. However, repeatedly proposing after some1 has said no is criminal harassment.

If gay man repeatedly proposes such as follow the man around after no has been said, then the homosexual is committing criminal stalking and the man has a right to end this abuse. If a homosexual is going to commit indecent exposure, then it’s a crime and there is no need for a man to say no to a crime the homosexual had no right to do. & there is no need for a man to say no to a homosexual who is proposing to him in a public restroom because public restroom is not a house or a bar and it’s illegal to ask others for sex in public restroom. Public restroom is the place to use toilet and wash up not a place for sex.

Again if it’s true homosexual committed indecent exposure, harassment, stalking, etc. before men reacted violently, then the fact the homosexual committed a crime before he was bashed must be decided by jury in deciding if gay basher(s) used reasonable or excess force. I would rather have a case where a jury decides if a man’s reaction to bashing or killing a homosexual is justified or excess vs. the man doesn’t do enough and the gay does something worse. Most men and boys who are victims of gays usu. won’t call cops to report that a gay is committing indecent exposure, harassment or in worst cases molestation until some1 reacts violently and bashes the gay.

Anonymous

I’m not shocked that gays & lesbians would be more likely to support indecent exposure & pedophilia when it’s gay/lesbian incl. make excuses for gays who have sex in bathrooms. Again, gays who have sex in public restrooms are also more likely to be drug junkies & gay pedophiles. If a homosexual is harassing others in public restrooms, then chances are that the homosexual could be high on drugs like meth. Lesbians have also harassed others in bathrooms.

See how lesbian Kaitlyn Ashley Hunt sexually abused a 14 year old girl in a public restroom, homosexual groups exploited kids to rally for a lesbian who had sex with a 14 year old girl in a public bathroom and people harassed the victim’s parents for calling the cops. She had no business having sex with a minor and she had no right to do indecency in a public bathroom. If an adult wants to do homosexual or lesbian conduct with other knowing and consenting adults in their own home or apartment and not harass others about it, then it’s their life, though it’s harmful behavior.

The parents did the right thing calling the police to report this sex abuse and for people to condemn and harass the parents for doing this is wrong. She again had no right to be having sex with a minor and she had no right doing it in a bathroom. For homsexual groups to get children to rally for Kaitlyn Ashley Hunt after she sexually abused this minor girl is wrong-exploiting children for causes.

Daily Kos and Huffington Post are apologists for gays & lesbians who commit sex abuse It‘s no surprise that Judy Shepard, corrupt ex cop Greg Joseph Miraglia, Laramie Project and Big Island Chronicle‘s Tiffany Camille Edwards Hunt see nothing wrong with Florida lesbian Kaitlyn Ashley Hunt committing sex abuse on a 14 year old girl in a public bathroom & are against this lesbian going to jail for what she did to this teenage girl.

Gay/lesbian groups are predictable and side with gays or in this case a lesbian no matter what wrong the lesbian does. Though most gays don’t have bathroom encounters, gay groups think it’s OK for gays& lesbians to have sex in public bathrooms & are against cops arresting gays who do these things. What’s sad are the kids who are rallying for Kaitlyn Ashley Hunt sexually abusing a 14 year old girl and again Kaitlyn Ashley Hunt admitted to having sex with an underage girl in a public bathroom.

14 year old girl is the victim here because as Kaitlyn Ashley Hunt’s the adult, Kaitlyn Ashley Hunt has no right to be having sex with a 14 year old girl. It’s evil to use kids to rally behind a person who again has sex with an underage girl in a public restroom because again, the bathroom isn’t the place for having sex-when people can’t see anything wrong with this indecent exposure, then there’s something wrong with the people. Most likely, adults urged kids to rally for Kaitlyn Ashley Hunt & that is wrong-using children for propaganda. & harassing the victim’s parents because they reported this crime is wrong.

Anonymous

I don’t know why people defend a useless dangerous conduct such as homosexual/lesbian conduct & I don’t know the apologism for transexuality which is surgically mutilating people with dangerous hormones to make them fake opposite sex members & they should make that illegal.

Main ideas of science and math are always the same (such as freezing temperature is 32 Degrees Fahrenheit & lower, 2+2=4) and with main ideas of science, unless new information is found which changes prior conclusion (such as in 1950s when they found a whale is a mammal not a fish as scientists first thought), the main ideas of science stay the same. I do not believe mainstream science/psychology in the 1960s to early 70s discovered anything new to change long held conclusions on homosexuality when they removed homosexuality from DSM in 1973. They have as said since 1973 become ideological on gay/lesbian topic. I don’t deny possibility homosexuality could be genetic or inborn for some but that is unproven. Even if it’s true that homosexuality is inborn for some people, homosexual/lesbian conduct would still be bad for health.

Homofobia is telling truths, theories and speculations which offend homosexual groups. While they have not conclusively proven homosexuality/lesbianism is inborn genes, homosexual groups often use this theory as definite by saying how they are born this way-which possibly can be the case for some but more studies are needed. But when facts are raised about the link between childhood sex abuse and a kid doing homosexual and lesbian activities in adutlhood, homosexual groups often get offended, condemn it as homofobia.

With homosexuality being found among animals, cannibalism, stealing, etc. are also found among them, so it’s a bad idea to say that because animals do something people do. It’s best for gays/lesbians to be celibate until cure is found for this. No gays, don’t choose orientation, but they choose their sexual behavior.

Any facts which show homosexuality/lesbianism to be bad and put negative views on this is condemned. Homosexual/lesbian conduct is bad for health as smoking is and needs to be marginalized like smoking is. People who engage in homosexual/lesbian conduct have more medical problems caused by homosexual/lesbian conduct. I believe the negative views of homosexual/lesbian conduct is the right view because there is something wrong with homosexual/lesbian conduct and they must make it a crime to do sex changes. I know my view offends homosexuals, but most smokers do not get offended by negative views of tobacco use. So homosexuals/lesbians have to hear others give negative views of their sex lives, because there is something wrong with this just as there’s something wrong with smoking.

Yes, it’s a proven fact that childhood sex abuse is a major cause of homosexual/lesbian conduct in adulthood. Anybody who denies the link is dishonest, delusional or both. Never have I heard straights blame childhood sex abuse for reasons a man has sex with a woman and fathers children with her. Yet sometimes have heard gays and lesbians say childhood sex abuse is reason they do same sex behaviors.Any conduct can be learned and this includes sexual conduct. There are homosexuals and lesbians who say that childhood sex abuse (especially those who are victims of a gay priest) are reasons why they think they do same sex behaviors in adulthood. Had they not been repeatedly molested, would they have turned out straight instead of gay or lesbian? It doesn’t take an expert to know that sex abuse in youth can mess up the mind and cause people to behave in ways they normally wouldn’t. Of course, not all who are sexually abused in youth become gay in adulthood-but the risk is higher.

A kid can become a mugger by living in high crime neighborhood, seeing muggings in childhood and learning this conduct. Yes, there are muggers who were not raised in high crime neighborhoods but still became muggers, but that does not rule out other causes. Many emphysema victims did not smoke and were not exposed to 2nd hand smoke and got emphysema due to bad genes but it would be dishonest to deny truth that if a person smokes, he or she is more likely to get emphysema. Since homosexuals and lesbians (transexuals) often suffered childhood sex abuse, it’s no surprise that homosexuals and lesbians think childhood sexual abuse is OK when it’s homosexual activities.

Anonymous

When I go to the bathroom I just go in and do my business. If I see someone passing by I just say hi. I could care less if it was a women or a man. Let everybody use whatever bathroom they want to use. The only part about this transgender subject that I particularly don't care for are the videos of transgender people complaining that you are not using the correct pronoun. People need to understand no one is perfect and if you want to be accepted in society, the best approach is to be humble and kind. Today's culture, everybody just whines and complains that they are being treated horribly. My motto is very simple, kill with kindness. Kindness is the greatest weapon to yield in any fight.

Anonymous

frankly I have to aggre ( i know I spelled that wrong) why should it matter who goes to the bathroom? in the end we are all people and weather we are gay or lesbin ( spelled that wrong to) transgrander ( i dont know if i spelled that right) or by ( bysexal spelled wrong i think). G L T B IT DOES NOT MATTER!! ok?

March 28, 2018

1:20 PM

Anonymous

Anonymous

power full standing up to ur own rights is ( should) not be normal. we have rights and we should be able to use them, we are all strong in our own and its good that teens stand up even now to a bigger opponent. we all have rights that we should stand up for.